Great Racing at Infineon… Breaking that “Barrier”
Yesterday I had (what felt like, anyway) my worst ever race in iRacing (click here to view the race report). I got 15 incident points in a single event.
I don’t know why but it seemed like everyone was trying to block and as I’m someone who will only normally overtake on the main straight at Lime Rock Park, I found myself getting thoroughly involved in problems I felt were not of my own making. My Safety Rating after that race went down to Class C 2.21 - I think the lowest it has ever been. I’ll upload race reports from yesterday/today’s races tomorrow.
I felt like I learned a little bit yesterday because after the Skip Barber Race Series event at Lime Rock Park, I ran a Formula Mazda event at Infineon. I made quite a few mistakes (9 incidents), but to my great surprise I gained Safety Rating (up to Class C 2.31). I then realised that while it may be easier to lose safety rating in Class C - it also seems easier to gain it at times. I had a chat with Alison Hine after the race and she told me to cool down and said that she is driving well within her limits in order to preserve her safety rating… During the race I had been passing her then spinning and I kept repeating that pattern over and over while she consistently lapped away… I knew what I was doing, I felt I was pushing 101% and realised that by doing that, I’m making myself look a lot worse of a driver than I know I can be…
After the Mazda race (I was feeling pretty low), the iRating threw me a ‘pity win’. I ran a Skip Barber Race Series event at Lime Rock Park and found myself in quite a commanding position. I won by 10 seconds… (Read the race report). I went to bed with mixed feelings over my racing events that evening.
Today, I decided to run a Skip Barber Race Series event first. I had an awesome race and had some great battles. I’d also lapped fairly cleanly and my safety rating went up to Class C 2.46. I finished 7th while I was iRated (and predicted) to be able to run for about the 12th place!
After that race, I joined a Formula Mazda race and to my total shock and surprise I had fun - In the Mazda! I have quite clearly stunk in this car, absolutely stunk. I’d actually go far enough to say that I hated this car. Like I said to Alison after the race last night, it feels like it’s too fast for me (even though I know it’s relatively slow) and it feels too ‘big’ for the tracks. I described it in the chat as like ‘threading a needle’ trying to keep the car on the black stuff. Taking Alison’s advice I toned my driving down a bit and decided not to ‘experiment’ with lines and braking zones like I normally do during races. I convinced myself to be happy with my laptimes and to finish, where I finish.
The race went very well and apart from an off track -> loss of control on lap 7 I ran a perfect race! Did you hear that? I managed to run a Formula Mazda race with just a single error! Not only that, but I found myself in the most wonderful three-car battle for 5th-place… After the race, my safety rating was Class C 2.70, a gain of 0.49 in just four races (two good ones). Something that was really pleasing was that when I felt I was driving at 95% of my proper pace, I was lapping (at best) 1s per lap faster than I had when driving as fast as I felt I could… Weird, huh?
This video is well worth a watch as we battle hard for position:
I get close enough to pass about 4mins into the video - if you want to skip to the real action! View edited highlights of the whole race (in-car).
Tags: Alison Hine, Formula Mazda, Formula Mazda Championship, Infineon Raceway, iRacing.com, Lime Rock Park, Safety Rating, Skip Barber 2000, Skip Barber Race Series